Size Matters

I guess at this point I should probably tell you all a little something about us. We're a pretty typical family of 5. That would be me, your blog author, my husband, and 3 sons, who are 13, 10 and 7 years old. There's also a cat (male) and some fish (I've never checked...) That makes me the only chick in the mosh pit, so to speak. It also means, that spending 8 weeks driving across the country in a small, enclosed space could potentially try everyone's patience. We've put a lot of thought into just how much space we will need and also into exactly how large a vehicle we are both comfortable driving. There is also the cost of fuel to figure into the equation. Needless to say we've quite a lot to think about.

This week has been quite educational. We've done some searching online and also looked at and driven our first few contenders. We've learned that not all motor homes are created equal. There are two basic types...class “A” or the “bus type” which look like this :

and class “C” or the “truck type” which look like this:

There are advantages and disadvantages to both. We're looking in the 25-30 foot range as neither the husband or I are comfortable driving anything much bigger than that. In that size range a class “C” motor home sleeps more people because it has a bed over the cab. However, even though I am supposedly of average height, I can't so much see over the steering wheel of the class “C” motor homes we have looked at so far. A few sellers have suggest the use of a cushion. I didn't ask if it was to sit on or to smack them with. I anticipate this could be a problem on the open road. Class “A” motor homes are much easier to see out of, but lack the sleeping capacity that we need. The motor homes we have looked at also will require varying amounts of “fixing up.” Most that we have looked at are in good shape mechanically, but will still need some repairs (one had a broken refrigerator, most need to have the carpeting and upholstery replaced) and we would like time to do that. We hope to find something this spring so that we can fix it up and even take a few short trips this summer to try it out! I hope the cat likes it, but the fish are out of luck. They're going to Grandma and Grandpa's!